~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is one of my favourite hashtags on Twitter because I can apply it to so many public figures. David Milliband is a prime example of the term, as exemplified by this superb polemic. Lets be frank: the ideology of neoliberalism is utterly bankrupt. It is an absurdity and an offence to modern society. The idea that the market is always right, that competition always produces the most efficient system and that private business always, ALWAYS provides superior management, organisation, development, research, accounting and security is just laughable. Every day examples appear in the news of the gross inefficiencies of the corporatocracy, and the criminal tactics they use to defraud clients and customers and- most importantly- the state. I know. I actively seek them out so that I can share them with you all on Twitter.
That Milliband and his fellow ToryScum brazenly adhere to this hideous dogma in the face of mountains of evidence is demonstrative of three things: Firstly, the triumph of mainstream media propaganda in distracting society from the facts, dissuading them from joining the dots between the plethora of examples to perceive the glorious ideological hole and marginalising anyone who manages this and tries to draw attention to it. Secondly, the meteoric rise to success and guaranteed prosperity for those who exhibit exceptional talent proselytising for this malignant cult. Thirdly, the crushing, desperate, gasping essentiality for all sensible and resistant parties to put aside their differences and unite in striving for an alternative.
Of course this won't happen. Since the Copenhagen debacle and the fuckyounomic triumph of The Great Bailout many rational people have simply resigned themselves to society's death spiral. The chances of meaningful electoral, economic and environmental reform are so distant as to be laughable. Upon whichever path you tread you will find a litter of bones from previous attempts, be it the failure of legitimate electoral reform to undermine the pseudodemocracy of our elective dictatorship, the bruised and beaten remnants of the public protest movements or the depressingly predictable circus of the Leveson Inquiry and the impunity with which the media barons brush-off criticism or distract from it with royal nudity, demonisation of the poor and vulnerable or hypocritical pleas for a return to core British values of honesty, hard work and respect for the law. (LOLZ!!1!)
I sit here, in my shack on the outskirts of Auckland, and follow this circus on a daily basis; pausing occasionally to throw some offhand epithet to these people, confident that few of the powerful will ever even glance at my words. And yet it could have been so different. Back in the late 90s the UK Labour Party could have fought for their democratic representation and resisted the ascendance of Emperor Blair. They could have pushed forward the program of investment and development whilst resisting the CBI's strenuous efforts to co-opt the revolution for their own profit in nuclear power, PFI and military adventurism. The Jenkins Report could have been accepted- nay, embraced- by Labour as an electorally painful but fundamentally essential set of reforms to establish the nation's supremacy as a democracy. Instead of imprisoning asylum seekers, terrorising their children and deporting them to face torture, the Labour Party could have lobbied across globe for an end to the neoimperial policies of the IMF and World Bank. They could have gone the whole Robin Cook and genuinely embraced an ethical foreign policy (shock! horror! cries of "won't somebody think of the children?"). You see the thing with asylum seekers is that what they're often seeking in Western Nations is asylum from situations created in their countries by Western Nations. That's irony for you. And that's why I have no sympathy whatsoever for the petites racistes of the United Kingdom. They voted for neoimperialism, they must take responsibility for the resulting refugees.
The UK today needs many things but another career politician with a hard-on for neoliberalism is not one of them: Many of the things the UK does need are being taken away from it at just the moment when they are most needed. The irony of this will come back to haunt anyone reading this in ten years or so when the food riots start. I will still be here in my shack, drinking homemade cider and calling them all sociopathic cunts. And I'll still be right.
